Star Trek: Forrestal- Story One: Come, What Sorrow May
by kirinranger1
Summary: Lt. Langston Streeter has always considered himself to be a decent officer. He would never do anything to dishonor himself or the service. Until he found himself doing whatever it took to save the life of another Starfleet Officer. One that meant more to him than the Uniform.


_San Francisco, CA  
May 23, 2263  
2100 hrs_

San Francisco has not changed that much over the centuries.

Features and landmarks may change over the course of time, but what makes the city so unique has not changed one single bit. Before the discovery of other worlds, it was limited to the many different nationalities that lived all over the planet. Each of them dreaming of something more and taking the chance by leaving their homelands to come to this city to bring their own uniqueness and add to the diverse fabric. Now, in the 23rd Century, it was home to many different species that were from different parts of the Alpha Quadrant wanting the same things that those humans wanted so long ago.

Gone were the old internal combustion vehicles and commercial aircraft that traveled across the planet's roads and skyways. In their place were vehicles that were able to traverse both land and air without even trying along with spacecraft that could go from the planet to orbit in just a couple of minutes. Some of the more traditional vehicles like the Trolley system still existed, but was only in operation as a tourist attraction for those who wanted to get the full experience of being in San Francisco.

Some of the more famous landmarks like the old Transamerica building and Coit Tower still stood hundreds of years after they were built. While other less distinct buildings were now gone and were replaced by giant pillars that could reach almost thousands of feet in the air. The Presidio and Fort Baker which were located on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge were now home to both The United Federation of Planet's Starfleet Command and Academy which dealt with space exploration and defense.

However, even in the 23rd Century where weather could be controlled with just a push of a button; the one thing that was still constant was the way that the fog moved in from the ocean towards the city. Some people would say that it was just the cold air passing over the water. Then there were others that believed that the fog had a mind of its own sometimes. Even on a beautiful day it could black out the sunlight and make it feel that darkness was not that far behind. Some of the people thought it as an inconvenience while other thought it just added to the charm of the city. However, today the overcast clouds that crept into the Bay Area were reminiscent of a death shroud over a coffin, cold and empty.

This feeling reached throughout the city, even towards Nob Hill, where the Fairmont Hotel was located. This building is known by many of the hotel connoisseurs the world over to be one of the most prestigious hotels in all of the Bay Area and able to connect to the most of the cities tourists spots and cable car routes; its location could be considered a tourist hot spot. This posh hotel was originally supposed to open in 1906, but was delayed due to the San Francisco Earthquake. Named after California mining magnate and U.S. Senator James Graham Fair by his daughters Theresa Fair Oelrichs and Virginia Fair Vanderbilt; this historic building has become witness to many world changing events, including the founding of what would eventually be known as the United Nations and hosted some of the delegates that would help lay the groundwork for The United Federation of Planets. To be able to stay at this hotel, one would have to be able to casually spend a small fortune like it was almost nothing.

In one of the Main Balcony Suites of the hotel, a tall African American man tried to pierce the veil of the clouds to see if he could even make out the rest of the city. At 6'3" he looked a little menacing given that he tried his best to hold himself to Starfleet standards especially since he was still dressed in his uniform. (Had to make sure he still acted the part) but there was a youthful and gentle glare within his eyes that betrayed the chiseled and battle hardened look on his face. He leaned against the window while his broad shoulders hung down slightly like the weight of the galaxy was upon him. That was how Lt. Langston Streeter always felt whenever he had a chance to get away from his other life, that of a Starship Helmsman. It was not the worst of assignments that he could have been given, in fact he enjoyed it, especially since he was able to pilot a Constitution Class Starship; one of Starfleet's top of the line cruisers. The helmsman of the U.S.S. _Forrestal,_ a second generation vessel but to him she was as good if not better than the legendary U.S.S. _Enterprise._

He had held the position for the past three years under the command of Commodore Larkin McDougal before he became an Admiral and was replaced by Captain Horatio Ryan, the ship's former first officer. During his time under Ryan was when he began to excel in his duties and had even been recognized as one of the top helmsmen in Starfleet and given the position of 2nd officer of the ship. Which was part of the reason he was here, Captain Ryan had assigned him to undergo Command Training on Earth while the _Forrestal_ was on assignment near the edge of known space. However, training did not start for a few more days which gave him some time take a break from duty. Something that the ship's doctor insisted he should do while he was at home.

That was something he found hard to do while he looked out the window realizing how much San Francisco had changed since the last time he was here. In fact, Earth had always seemed a little different every time he would leave for space. This time, however, it felt a little empty and that just made him feel all the more lost. He inhaled the recycled air that was blowing through the room and let out one big sigh before moving away from the window to keep his spirits up. This was hard for him to do when he took a long moment to look around at the décor of the room and see this suite in its entirety.

The tan colored walls and the white ceiling made him feel a little uneasy almost like he was trapped inside one of those photographs you would see in one of those ads for paint. Even the way that the table was placed in the center of the room with placemats, bottles of water and a green Fuji apple placed on each side only added to the complete absurdity of it all.

Quietly, he muttered to himself an insult and walked past the furniture towards the view of the city. On the other side of the Bay, the hills reminded him more of charcoal that was starting to burn in a barbecue pit and the lights of the vehicles and buildings were the little embers that flickered in the orange glow of the evening sky. The ever omnipresent San Francisco fog that continued to roll into area only helped to further enhance surreal vision that formed in his head.

His eyes scanned away from that hellish vision his imagination concocted and focused his attention to the City around him. Where the hills on the other side of the Bay only furthered the dark visions he sometimes had seen in his mind. The view of Nob Hill was almost peaceful, at least when it came to being in a major metropolis like San Francisco. He looked down at the furious pace of the vehicles moving above and below him, racing furiously through the streets and skies like comets streaking through the blackness of space while the trolleys slowly moved between them ringing their bells. Even the people were at their own pace moving through the giant monoliths that surrounded the hill as it descended towards the Bay in the distance.

He stared on, fascinated by it all until he decided to turn around and head towards the main bedroom. He took one more distressed look at the furniture that occupied this main room and tried his best to rush past it and put it all behind him. The further he got away from feeling like he was in a commercial, the better. It took him just a few more seconds to rush past the table before he the long hallway that linked the main living room and main doorway to the entrance to the master bedroom.

If the main living room made him feel like he was in a 21st Century paint ad, the master bedroom felt more like one of those ancient Sears catalog books. In the center of the room stood a bed that reminded him more of a small shuttle pod rather than someplace he could rest. He could even imagine the woman in the nightgown lying down under the sheets enjoying the comfortable rest trying to sell the product to the customer. He took a look at the nightstands for a moment; he noticed that they were not what he expected, like the rest of the hotel they were top of the line. He even admired how they were placed on both sides of the bed like sentries guarding the entrance to some secret temple with the matching lamps as their weapons.

He smiled to himself, thinking about the 'entrance' quip. It had been a while since he had made any jokes like that. Lately things had been more about what he needed to do rather than taking the time to enjoy life and what it had to offer. In the greater scheme of things, he knew that he needed to take time to let himself live beyond the seam of his uniform.

Langston took one more look at the bed before he turned around and allowed his body to collapse on the soft mattress. Slowly, he shifted his body and let his battle weary eyes focus on the white ceiling above him; the world around him began to slowly fade away into a white noise as he remembered the busy life he had on the _Forrestal_ , and what was waiting for him there. The rigid life of being the ship's 2nd in Command. He should be happy about that, but there was more fear than anything else. How would he handle it? The responsibility that came along with it and knowing that sometimes you would be sending people to their deaths without even a second thought, it was enough to make his head hurt. He moved his hands up towards his temples and rubbed them softly, trying not to think about what was to come.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Slowly, he moved his head towards the left in the direction of the nightstand table that his communicator rested. The black box with the gold top continued to beep loudly, trying to get the attention of its owner. At first, Langston didn't even want to answer it; he just wanted one moment to just get his thoughts in order before he would have to deal with anyone back at Starfleet. He let it beep at least a few more seconds, wondering how long he could get away with not answering.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

He rolled his eyes in resignation before he mustered every ounce of strength in his body to move off the bed and casually moved three paces towards the communicator. He looked at it two more seconds before picking up the device and flipping it open casually, "This is Lt. Streeter."

"Lt. Streeter." A deep, no nonsense feminine voice answered from the device. "This is Lt. Chital Taruca over at Starfleet Security. We need you to report to Headquarters immediately."

Langston slowly inhaled before letting out the air in one quiet sigh, "What is the situation Lieutenant?"

"I can't really discuss this over an unsecured line, Sir." Lt. Taruca answered bluntly, "It is better if you can get here as soon as possible."

"Acknowledged, Streeter out." Langston closed the communicator before he grabbed his utility belt and placed it in the compartment.


End file.
